Page 8 of Dragon's Midlife Secret Baby
Beck started to feel his body around him, only now realizing that it’d disappeared from his awareness for a little while. He focused on the movements of his lungs and the way his muscles felt. It was like waking up without truly having been asleep.
Maeve looked at him curiously. “I don’t suppose you have any better recollection now?”
“I know what I just told you, but no,” Beck admitted. “I’m afraid not.”
4
“Oh,there you are, Chelsea. I just heard!” Kristy wrapped her arms tightly around Chelsea and squeezed. “How are you not an absolute mess right now?”
“Thank you so much for your support,” Chelsea cracked at her sister, though she offered her a half smile. “I’m using every bit of strength I have to keep it together, honestly—along with this tea Erin made me. Herbalist or not, that girl knows how to make a great tea.”
“Guess I’ll settle for chamomile.” Kristy fetched a mug from the cabinet and reached for the kettle, which was still warm. “Mom said he’s staying here?”
“Yeah.” Chelsea closed her eyes and wrapped herfingers around the mug, trying to focus on its warmth, but all she could think about was Beck.
Sitting on the other side of the kitchen table, Kristy played with her tea ball while waiting for it to brew. “Are you okay with that?”
“Yes.” The answer came quickly, telling her just how true it was. Now that she knew Beck was still alive, Chelsea would’ve gone crazy if he’d left again and she had to go back to wondering where he was. “I’m not going to say it isn’t strange. Not just having him here, but knowing he’s still alive.”
One of Kristy’s slim eyebrows tweaked a bit. “What’s the plan, then? Are you two going to pick up where you left off?”
“It’s not that simple, is it?” Chelsea absently stirred her tea. It really was delicious, and she knew it was keeping her nerves from being completely shot, but everything that’d happened felt too big for even the best herbalist in Salem to fix.
Kristy produced a small deck of tarot cards from her pocket. She shuffled them through her fingers with as much ease as a stage magician or a casino dealer, though her power with them had nothing to do with hiding the ace of spades up her sleeve. She quirked her eyebrow again.
Chelsea knew what she was asking. Kristy would never pull cards without asking. She nodded.
“Let’s see, then.” Kristy’s nimble fingers put the deck back to order, smoothing the sides. She turned over the first card and laid it on the table. “Ah. The devil. Something is holding you back.”
The image was of a man and a woman, naked except for the chains that bound them together. For a moment, it made Chelsea think of her connection with Beck. The large devil behind the lovers, however, was the one who grasped the chain and kept it in control.
“Something is holding you back,” Kristy said softly. “I suppose that card isn’t really a surprise, is it?”
“No. What else have you got?”
Kristy flipped the next card. It depicted a large wheel with various symbols inscribed on it. Surrounding the wheel were various winged, golden creatures. “The Wheel of Fortune.”
“Lovely.” Chelsea drained the rest of her tea.
“It’s notthatbad,” Kristy said. “Necessarily.”
“I know there’s always room for interpretation, but I’ve also grown up with you. I know that two out of two cards being in the major arcana is big, and neither of them is showing me messagesI want to hear right now.” After rinsing her mug and putting it in the dishwasher, she gripped the side of the sink. “I need a card that’s going to tell me what to do from here, how to proceed, how to put my life back on a track I’d abandoned.”
“You know as well as I do that the cards aren’t going to tell you what to do.” Her sister’s nails tapped the top of the deck. “You know I never stop at just two cards. Want to see the third one?”
“No.” Chelsea pushed back from the counter. “I’m just going to go to bed and look at this with fresh eyes in the morning.”
“Are you sure?” Kristy called in a singsong voice. “It’s got wands on it!”
Chelsea had made it through the kitchen doorway. She turned and poked her head back into the kitchen. “Shut up. And goodnight.”
Leaving Kristy’s giggles behind, Chelsea made her way through the quiet house. The covenstead was a comfort to her in her times of need, and she hoped it was for Beck as well. Whatever he’d been through, he needed time to heal. She could feel his presence as she passed the door to the guest room, the room where he was staying. Right here. In the very same house. It was just so hard to fathom.
Her wolf whispered to her. She turned andknocked softly on the door. Thinking of what he’d revealed about being imprisoned, she called out, “It’s Chelsea.”
The door opened. Beck was now wearing a pair of athletic shorts and a T-shirt. Chelsea knew they were from the stash of extra clothing the coven always kept around in case someone needed their help, so the garments were nothing special, yet she noticed the way they fit his body. Beck was leaner now, but he’d retained the strong physique she’d admired so much when they’d first met.
“Chelsea.” He let out a breath through his nostrils.
